Neat idea. I'll see what I can come up with Mr. Bright.
I've never been married, so I can't comment on the positive aspects. Although, someone to spread your ashes over your enemies houses would be a perk.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Monday, May 26, 2003
Great! I talked to Beth today. I really appreciate you letting me and friend stay. We are going to see a couple of shows and see Chicago. We will arrive Friday, June 6th, in the afternoon sometime.
I look forward to visiting with you.
Talk to you soon cousin,
Matt Komanecky
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Atkins
To: mkoma01s@uis.edu
Sent: 5/24/03 3:37 PM
Subject: Visit
Matt,
Hi. Great you are coming. You can come up my house June 5-7. From my house in Rolling Meadows, IL my Address is 117 New Castle Court. I
will give directions next Friday. I flying to Las Vegas to a convemtion this week. I have a bedroom from my son is going to Gauyama this summer.
I will call you later.
Cousin,
Tom Atkins
I look forward to visiting with you.
Talk to you soon cousin,
Matt Komanecky
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Atkins
To: mkoma01s@uis.edu
Sent: 5/24/03 3:37 PM
Subject: Visit
Matt,
Hi. Great you are coming. You can come up my house June 5-7. From my house in Rolling Meadows, IL my Address is 117 New Castle Court. I
will give directions next Friday. I flying to Las Vegas to a convemtion this week. I have a bedroom from my son is going to Gauyama this summer.
I will call you later.
Cousin,
Tom Atkins
This is what we are going to Friday, June 6th. We get a chance to see the Violent Femmes too! (It starts early and we'll meet Matt Bright there.)
Q101 BLOCK PARTY
Pepsi & XBOX present the Q101 Block Party! Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th at the New City YMCA (1515 N. Halsted at the intersection of Halsted & Clybourn.)
Performing on the Bud Light Music Stage:
-Friday: The Violent Femmes, The Flaming Lips, Ben Kweller, Starlight Mints
Gates open at 4:30pm each day.
The Q101 Block Party will benefit the New City YMCA and the Matt White Cure ALS Foundation.
Rain or shine, bring your blankets for the grass. No coolers allowed. Great food and TONS of cold beer and drinks will be available.
You don't have to pay a ton of money anymore to see great live music. That's what the Q101 Block Party is all about! Good times, good friends, and good music, at a reasonable price. In a killer location too. The skyline of Chicago will be the backdrop to this outdoor party!
Q101 BLOCK PARTY
Pepsi & XBOX present the Q101 Block Party! Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th at the New City YMCA (1515 N. Halsted at the intersection of Halsted & Clybourn.)
Performing on the Bud Light Music Stage:
-Friday: The Violent Femmes, The Flaming Lips, Ben Kweller, Starlight Mints
Gates open at 4:30pm each day.
The Q101 Block Party will benefit the New City YMCA and the Matt White Cure ALS Foundation.
Rain or shine, bring your blankets for the grass. No coolers allowed. Great food and TONS of cold beer and drinks will be available.
You don't have to pay a ton of money anymore to see great live music. That's what the Q101 Block Party is all about! Good times, good friends, and good music, at a reasonable price. In a killer location too. The skyline of Chicago will be the backdrop to this outdoor party!
Sunday, May 25, 2003
I have a cat sitting on my lap. It has the power to lash out at any moment. It digs it claws into my knee to remind me.
A cat fight is superiour to a dog fight anyday. Cats get fucking pissed when they fight, and sometimes they leap into fit of hysteria.
Also, you can't gode two cats into fighting like you can with dogs or people. Cat's fight and there's nothing but a pitcher of water to do anything about it.
A cat fight is superiour to a dog fight anyday. Cats get fucking pissed when they fight, and sometimes they leap into fit of hysteria.
Also, you can't gode two cats into fighting like you can with dogs or people. Cat's fight and there's nothing but a pitcher of water to do anything about it.
Saturday, May 24, 2003
cats wake up fast. you ever seen a grumpy cat waking up? one minute their fast asleep, and one second later they're wide awake and concious of everything. i read that kinky book you gave me Joe, and I've been thinking a lot about cats lately. I've never seen a groggy eyed cat. I've noticed sleepy dogs, but cats? they are spiritualy superiour to dogs. regardless of Thurber's musings.
Matt, are they any good mp3 playable car stereos? I want to get one of those iPod's too, but they start at $299.
Friday, May 23, 2003
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Online Learning at UIS
Online courses and degree programs are very popular at UIS. More than 800 students have accounted for the 1,200 enrollments in online classes this fall.
1 in every 8 students is taking purely online courses.
Online courses and degree programs are very popular at UIS. More than 800 students have accounted for the 1,200 enrollments in online classes this fall.
1 in every 8 students is taking purely online courses.
<!--Begin shameless plug-->
Have I ever told you about the Illinois Century Network (ICN)? They are a telecommunications backbone providing high speed access to data, video, and audio communication in schools and libraries, at colleges and universities, to public libraries and museums, and for local government and state agencies.
Man, are they essential. Without them we would not exist. Firefighters would not be able to get cats out of trees, cars would explode, and I could not talk to my fellow beavers over a high-speed connection. ICN is the greatest.
<!--End shameless plug-->
Have I ever told you about the Illinois Century Network (ICN)? They are a telecommunications backbone providing high speed access to data, video, and audio communication in schools and libraries, at colleges and universities, to public libraries and museums, and for local government and state agencies.
Man, are they essential. Without them we would not exist. Firefighters would not be able to get cats out of trees, cars would explode, and I could not talk to my fellow beavers over a high-speed connection. ICN is the greatest.
<!--End shameless plug-->
Matt, good work with the presentations. I saw the bar graphs on the news. You may want to make mention of where you get your fine internet service there or it could dissappear which would definately kill distance learning. The Chicago govenor Blagayovich in his short-sightedness what's to ruin it.
I'm not bitter, no, never.
I'm not bitter, no, never.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
I want to suck on that bloody tampon after she removes it and devour her juices.
TUE. MAY 20TH - 8PM - (TICKETS ON SALE AT WWW.ABBEYPUB.COM)
QWEL w/ NORDIC MISTRESS (GALAPAGOS4 RECORDS)
"Nordic Mistress are the supreme white blackmetal rap group in Chicago right now. Further than slitting your wrist chips. Some doggs want old style, some want the krizzle, NORDIC MISTRESS just wants you to sign your name in blood on the dotted line, or take a dip in the jacuzzzi with your other nordic girlfriend"
MAJESTICONS featuring MIKE LADD (NINJA TUNE / BIG DADA)
"Majesticons are about the ultimate post-Jiggy experience. Beats in the Valley beyond Bling. Some cats want loot, others want power and some are so far-gone they just want more beauty."
BEANS (of anti-pop consortium)
just added !!! the YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND
@ ABBEY PUB - 3420 W. Grace (at Elston) - (773)478-4408 - www.abbeypub.com
TUE. MAY 20TH - 8PM - (TICKETS ON SALE AT WWW.ABBEYPUB.COM)
QWEL w/ NORDIC MISTRESS (GALAPAGOS4 RECORDS)
"Nordic Mistress are the supreme white blackmetal rap group in Chicago right now. Further than slitting your wrist chips. Some doggs want old style, some want the krizzle, NORDIC MISTRESS just wants you to sign your name in blood on the dotted line, or take a dip in the jacuzzzi with your other nordic girlfriend"
MAJESTICONS featuring MIKE LADD (NINJA TUNE / BIG DADA)
"Majesticons are about the ultimate post-Jiggy experience. Beats in the Valley beyond Bling. Some cats want loot, others want power and some are so far-gone they just want more beauty."
BEANS (of anti-pop consortium)
just added !!! the YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND
@ ABBEY PUB - 3420 W. Grace (at Elston) - (773)478-4408 - www.abbeypub.com
Agreed. I wanted to watch that sexy blonde at the party insert the tampon, but they never show that.
Chapter 4 or 5 in Naked is called the Women's Open, and it is about the narrator's sister "becoming a woman" on the golf course. The clueless dad makes the kids carry his clubs and teaches them how to swing in an effort to get them to appreciate the game of golf. On one of these tortuous outings the girl has her first period.
Chapter 4 or 5 in Naked is called the Women's Open, and it is about the narrator's sister "becoming a woman" on the golf course. The clueless dad makes the kids carry his clubs and teaches them how to swing in an effort to get them to appreciate the game of golf. On one of these tortuous outings the girl has her first period.
Monday, May 19, 2003
Dead Beavers -
I always hating coming across dead animals. I remember seeing a dead cat in the drive thru of a my parents bank. It's funny how dead animals can sneek up on you.
I watched a special movie on Mtv called "wasted" tonight. It was a 2 hour psa on why teen-agers shouldn't do heroin. They say heroin is like 200x better then anything you've ever felt in your entire life. I've always been a champion for moderation, and blow-jobs. so personally I don't care if heroin is a blow-job x200.
I always hating coming across dead animals. I remember seeing a dead cat in the drive thru of a my parents bank. It's funny how dead animals can sneek up on you.
I watched a special movie on Mtv called "wasted" tonight. It was a 2 hour psa on why teen-agers shouldn't do heroin. They say heroin is like 200x better then anything you've ever felt in your entire life. I've always been a champion for moderation, and blow-jobs. so personally I don't care if heroin is a blow-job x200.
I'm with Matt. Let's shit can this brown eye fuck. I'm sure you've all seen this article, it takes up space:
LONDON (May 9) - Give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, the theory goes, and they will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare.
Give six monkeys one computer for a month, and they will make a mess.
Researchers at Plymouth University in England reported this week that primates left alone with a computer attacked the machine and failed to produce a single word.
``They pressed a lot of S's,'' researcher Mike Phillips said Friday. ``Obviously, English isn't their first language.''
In a project intended more as performance art than scientific experiment, faculty and students in the university's media program left a computer in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo in southwest England, home to six Sulawesi crested macaques.
Then, they waited.
At first, said Phillips, ``the lead male got a stone and started bashing the hell out of it.
``Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and urinating all over the keyboard,'' added Phillips, who runs the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technologies.
Eventually, monkeys Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan produced five pages of text, composed primarily of the letter S. Later, the letters A, J, L and M crept in.
The notion that monkeys typing at random will eventually produce literature is often attributed to Thomas Huxley, a 19th-century scientist who supported Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. Mathematicians have also used it to illustrate concepts of chance.
The Plymouth experiment was funded by England's Arts Council and part of the Vivaria Project, which plans to install computers in zoos across Europe to study differences between animal and artificial life.
Phillips said the results showed that monkeys ``are not random generators. They're more complex than that.
``They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there.''
05/09/03 12:52 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
LONDON (May 9) - Give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, the theory goes, and they will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare.
Give six monkeys one computer for a month, and they will make a mess.
Researchers at Plymouth University in England reported this week that primates left alone with a computer attacked the machine and failed to produce a single word.
``They pressed a lot of S's,'' researcher Mike Phillips said Friday. ``Obviously, English isn't their first language.''
In a project intended more as performance art than scientific experiment, faculty and students in the university's media program left a computer in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo in southwest England, home to six Sulawesi crested macaques.
Then, they waited.
At first, said Phillips, ``the lead male got a stone and started bashing the hell out of it.
``Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and urinating all over the keyboard,'' added Phillips, who runs the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technologies.
Eventually, monkeys Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan produced five pages of text, composed primarily of the letter S. Later, the letters A, J, L and M crept in.
The notion that monkeys typing at random will eventually produce literature is often attributed to Thomas Huxley, a 19th-century scientist who supported Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. Mathematicians have also used it to illustrate concepts of chance.
The Plymouth experiment was funded by England's Arts Council and part of the Vivaria Project, which plans to install computers in zoos across Europe to study differences between animal and artificial life.
Phillips said the results showed that monkeys ``are not random generators. They're more complex than that.
``They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there.''
05/09/03 12:52 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Matt Bright, listen to one of these shows, if you have the time and inclination, and let me know what you think. I think you will like it.
Or maybe you will be offended. What do I know?
Or maybe you will be offended. What do I know?
Seriously, I can't run this blog into the ground without the help of my friends. You guys have to do your part. If you have to, just post the color blue for 400 lines. Like so:
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You should have read this article first, Armageddon Ends Badly, for a proper introduction into the Church of the SubGenius. But hey, life's messy!
The primary goal of the members is to achieve slack, the ultimate and undefinable state of pure pleasure. The primary obstacle to their goal is the conspiracy by pinks to deny the SubGenii their slack. Often described as "an anti-religion religion," the church's only rule is "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."
The primary goal of the members is to achieve slack, the ultimate and undefinable state of pure pleasure. The primary obstacle to their goal is the conspiracy by pinks to deny the SubGenii their slack. Often described as "an anti-religion religion," the church's only rule is "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."
This is too funny. Subgenius posts on alt.religion.scientology.
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Successes of DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 09:03:47 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about his wins
through DobbsThink (tm):
About 5 1/2 years ago I was miserable. When things didn't go well I blamed
L. Ron for all my failures. I was always broke and relied heavily on L.
Ron to bail me out. I was at a point where I knew I needed some spare
change. I had read other self help books, and I would get fired up for
about a day, but that was it. Then I read Dianetics. Wow! The gun-barrel
clicked when I was I pressed it to L. Ron's head and I knew that that was
it. It made sense and it was something that I could do and see the results
of, and they stayed with me. By killing L. Ron ------ from that moment on
my life has been getting better. Freedom! At last!
(c) 1995 The Church of the SubGenius (tm)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Re: Testimonials for DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 08:26:44 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about his wins in
DobbsThink (tm):
Four years ago I had a beat-up old pickup, my wife had left me and I had
no job. It was then that I discovered The Church of the Immaculate '60
Chevy and got a renewed attitude toward life. Where things were not
possible for me they were now possible. My life has expanded incredibly.
I now have my own cult members, groupies, and my wife and I got back
together through The SubGenius Short Duration Marriage Counseling. We are
now very happily married for 15 minute stretches. That Dobbs --- He's
our man!
(c) 1995 The Church of the SubGenius (tm)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Re: Testimonials for DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 08:25:37 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about her wins in
DobbsThink (tm):
I used to have a fear of mind control. Every time I'd go to the grocery
store or to a movie or almost any place where there were lots of people
from the Church of Scientology trying to get me to join their mind-numbing
cult. Every time I even heard the name "Hubbard" I'd go into a panic, my
heart would race, my hands would sweat and I would feel as though I was
going to burn every copy of Dianetics in existance. This problem was
completely handled in one hour when I decided to get even. I loaded my 69
chevy with a nuclear tipped warhead and aimed it the local Scientology
church. As the charred bodies of Xenu fled in terror, the face of "Bob"
--- pipe and all --- appeared in the glowing mushroom cloud comforting me
as thousands of cult members burned in a thermonuclear cook-out ---- and
it has never recurred. If I had gone to The Church of Scientology, I'm
sure it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars and years of therapy
and probably still would not be cured. Thanks to DobbsThink (tm) my X-ist
Evacution chamber now protects me from high levels of radition. Thanks to
the nice Dobbs salesman who convinced me and my husband to by a share in
the Tribulation Condominum encased in 35 feet of concrete. "Bob" thinks
of everything!
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Successes of DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 09:03:47 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about his wins
through DobbsThink (tm):
About 5 1/2 years ago I was miserable. When things didn't go well I blamed
L. Ron for all my failures. I was always broke and relied heavily on L.
Ron to bail me out. I was at a point where I knew I needed some spare
change. I had read other self help books, and I would get fired up for
about a day, but that was it. Then I read Dianetics. Wow! The gun-barrel
clicked when I was I pressed it to L. Ron's head and I knew that that was
it. It made sense and it was something that I could do and see the results
of, and they stayed with me. By killing L. Ron ------ from that moment on
my life has been getting better. Freedom! At last!
(c) 1995 The Church of the SubGenius (tm)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Re: Testimonials for DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 08:26:44 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about his wins in
DobbsThink (tm):
Four years ago I had a beat-up old pickup, my wife had left me and I had
no job. It was then that I discovered The Church of the Immaculate '60
Chevy and got a renewed attitude toward life. Where things were not
possible for me they were now possible. My life has expanded incredibly.
I now have my own cult members, groupies, and my wife and I got back
together through The SubGenius Short Duration Marriage Counseling. We are
now very happily married for 15 minute stretches. That Dobbs --- He's
our man!
(c) 1995 The Church of the SubGenius (tm)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: fetters@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Jim A. Fetters)
Subject: Re: Testimonials for DobbsThink (tm)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 08:25:37 GMT
This is what a SubGenius parishioner had to say about her wins in
DobbsThink (tm):
I used to have a fear of mind control. Every time I'd go to the grocery
store or to a movie or almost any place where there were lots of people
from the Church of Scientology trying to get me to join their mind-numbing
cult. Every time I even heard the name "Hubbard" I'd go into a panic, my
heart would race, my hands would sweat and I would feel as though I was
going to burn every copy of Dianetics in existance. This problem was
completely handled in one hour when I decided to get even. I loaded my 69
chevy with a nuclear tipped warhead and aimed it the local Scientology
church. As the charred bodies of Xenu fled in terror, the face of "Bob"
--- pipe and all --- appeared in the glowing mushroom cloud comforting me
as thousands of cult members burned in a thermonuclear cook-out ---- and
it has never recurred. If I had gone to The Church of Scientology, I'm
sure it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars and years of therapy
and probably still would not be cured. Thanks to DobbsThink (tm) my X-ist
Evacution chamber now protects me from high levels of radition. Thanks to
the nice Dobbs salesman who convinced me and my husband to by a share in
the Tribulation Condominum encased in 35 feet of concrete. "Bob" thinks
of everything!
While searching the Internet for information on my hero L. Ron Hubbard, I came across this article through a little synchronicity: Heroes on the internet: Xenu, Mozilla and "Bob". It ties in three seemingly unrelated objects in my life: Xenu, the intergalactic nemisis of Scientologists everywhere. Mozilla, the obscure and buggy browser that I use. And Bob Dobbs, my philisopical anti-hero, media scientist, and solar government spy who inspired the fictional J.R. Bob Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius.
Everything really is connected to everything else!
Everything really is connected to everything else!
Boo, Al Sharpton. He's a spoiler for the Republican Party, being used to siphon off votes from any viable Democrats. Frankly, no Democrat is really qualified to clean up the devastation created by Bush the past few years.
Do you think Bush will win all 50 states in '04?
You know, I like the actor Jim Carrey a lot, but I get the impression that he struggles with megalomania. And when he says things like, 'Hey, I had the sickest mom when I was a kid, and that's basically how comedians are born. You have to make [people] laugh. You have to make them feel better,' I know my hunch is right (Almighty, then! Carrey laughs again). Plus, the public breakups with actresses like Renee Zelwiger have been pretty ugly. She refuses to even talk about it.
What's up with Yankee fans booing Matsui for dropping a couple of balls? The Japanese media has near 100 reporters hounding their new star Hideki, giving the Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki a bit of a breather. (Steady Suzuki settles into stardom as Japanese media turn attention to Matsui)
I was wondering what kind of movies the Japanese make. I don't see a lot of foreign films. I know India has it's own version of Hollywood, called Bollywood, which churns out more movies than anywhere in the world (mostly musicals), but what is the Japanese Hollywood like? I do still want to see Kurosawa's 1956 masterpiece Seven Samurai and the more recent, Miyazaki's Sprited Away.
Do you think Bush will win all 50 states in '04?
You know, I like the actor Jim Carrey a lot, but I get the impression that he struggles with megalomania. And when he says things like, 'Hey, I had the sickest mom when I was a kid, and that's basically how comedians are born. You have to make [people] laugh. You have to make them feel better,' I know my hunch is right (Almighty, then! Carrey laughs again). Plus, the public breakups with actresses like Renee Zelwiger have been pretty ugly. She refuses to even talk about it.
What's up with Yankee fans booing Matsui for dropping a couple of balls? The Japanese media has near 100 reporters hounding their new star Hideki, giving the Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki a bit of a breather. (Steady Suzuki settles into stardom as Japanese media turn attention to Matsui)
I was wondering what kind of movies the Japanese make. I don't see a lot of foreign films. I know India has it's own version of Hollywood, called Bollywood, which churns out more movies than anywhere in the world (mostly musicals), but what is the Japanese Hollywood like? I do still want to see Kurosawa's 1956 masterpiece Seven Samurai and the more recent, Miyazaki's Sprited Away.
Saturday, May 17, 2003
In simple terms, KUCINICH is a man of the people, a man of the world, and a man who loves humanity.
That is why he is not ready for government. The government represents the warlords, the military-industrial-technological-pharmecutical complex.
If I were to install a president into power, I would contact some Hollywood script writers. "Make him appear to be an outsider." I would tell them. That is why Bush is doing so well. He is Pale Rider, following his own rules, and the people love it.
That is why the Democrats are struggling. THey have to define themselves in relation to Bush, which means they cannot be an "independent." Any Democrat would do better than the current President, Governor Howard Dean said at that debate today, but they democrats have an image problem.
That is why he is not ready for government. The government represents the warlords, the military-industrial-technological-pharmecutical complex.
If I were to install a president into power, I would contact some Hollywood script writers. "Make him appear to be an outsider." I would tell them. That is why Bush is doing so well. He is Pale Rider, following his own rules, and the people love it.
That is why the Democrats are struggling. THey have to define themselves in relation to Bush, which means they cannot be an "independent." Any Democrat would do better than the current President, Governor Howard Dean said at that debate today, but they democrats have an image problem.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Here you go fuckers, discuss:
Kucinich on NPR's 'Morning Edition'
Morning Edition: May 14, 2003
Listen via Real Audio
BOB EDWARDS, host: Why are you running for president?
Rep. KUCINICH: I'm running for president to bring a new day to America, an administration which will focus on the social, the economic, the human needs of the people and use the resources of our country to make sure that all Americans have decent health care, to get rid of health care for profit, to make sure that when people are sick they can see a doctor, to make sure that no one in America is afraid to go to a doctor or to a hospital because they can't afford it. I want universal health care. I want to be president because I believe that it's important to have a full-employment economy, that we can get America back to work rebuilding our cities. We can get America back to work if we change our trade agreements and cancel NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and the WTO (World Trade Organization), which have really been responsible for America losing hundreds of thousands and even millions of jobs. I think that as the next president I can work to create a new manufacturing policy so we can get our steel, automotive and aerospace industries back to where they were as a mainstay of the American economy. As the next president, I believe that I can focus the resources of this country in education so that every young person from pre-kindergarten all the way through to a person who wants to complete college will have fully paid education. We have the resources in this country for health, for jobs, for education. We have the resources in this country to assure retirement security for all Americans. As president, I'd make sure that all plans for Social Security privatization were set aside, that the retirement age was taken back to 65, because people work all their lives. Often they're tired by the time they get into their 60s and some people want to retire. They should be able to retire at a full rate at age 65. So those are some of the areas where as president I would focus the economic resources of this country.
Furthermore, I think that this is a time that we need to talk about setting aside the Patriot Act. We've really sacrificed basic liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. And the ultimate terrorism in a democracy is the sacrifice of civil liberties.
EDWARDS: Don't those other candidates want to take care of the social, economic and human needs of Americans?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, there are many good candidates running. Where my candidacy is different is that I'm the only candidate in this race who's talking about guaranteed, single-payer universal health care that takes the private sector out. I think every person who's listening to this understands that health care for profit has been a disaster in this country. That so many people have been deprived of the health care they need because they simply can't afford it. And health care for profit means that only those who have the resources and the wealth can get the care they need. That's not the America that is the America of our dreams. The America of our dreams is the America which is caring for everyone in this country. And so, I'm the only candidate who's saying guaranteed, single-payer universal health care and we have the resources to do that. It would be backed by a 7.7 percent tax that would be paid by employers who, by the way, are already paying 8.5 percent in terms of the average health care cost. I'm the only candidate in this race who's saying no to any kind of privatization of Social Security and who's saying take the retirement age back to 65. Now, how do I know that? >From Cleveland, Ohio, we have so many people who have worked in factories all their lives and whose tradition I'm trying to save by addressing our problems with trade, but I see people, I meet them and look at them and they're tired. They work 30, 40 years at a job and they're ready to retire and what's happening is this system keeps moving the retirement age back. And so, I'm the one who's saying, 'Look, let's put the retirement age at 65 and make sure everyone can be guaranteed a full and a fair retirement at that age.'
EDWARDS: Is your realistic goal to win the presidential nomination or to raise these issues?
Rep. KUCINICH: By raising these issues I'm going to win. By raising these issues, I'll identify myself as the one candidate who is in touch with the practical aspirations of people and who sees that this country has the resources to address those aspirations. But there are some things we're going to have to do. We're going to have to give up the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. We're going to have to give up America on the warpath, an America which is dedicated to spending a half a trillion dollars a year on the military by the year 2013. As the ranking Democrat on a subcommittee which has jurisdiction over national defense, an oversight subcommittee, I know the kind of waste that goes on in the military. I know, for example, that the Department of Defense cannot reconcile $1 trillion in accounts. I know that they can't keep track of the cost of various contracts that go to the private sector. And I know that the American people have a right to decent health care and education and [a] right to jobs and to retirement security and that's being sacrificed in the name of tax cuts for the wealthy, in the name of perpetual war and in the name of a military buildup.
EDWARDS: But you've heard now the horror stories of the regime of Saddam Hussein. Has that not moderated your opposition to the war?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well... I'm proud to have led the Democrats in the House of Representatives; 126 of us voted against the Iraq resolution in October. It's not simply opposition to the war in Iraq which caused me to run for president. It's opposition to a policy which sets America apart from the rest of the world because it's the policy which says that America can be the policeman of the world, that America can invade any country it pleases, that America can impose its doctrines and power anywhere it wants in the world. I think we're in a new era where the advancing tide is towards human unity, where people all around the world want to come together. The United States is in a position where it can lead the way towards that and it can do it in practical ways by affirming the power of the United Nations so that the international process makes decisions on international security. And that way we make our own country more safe. The United States can help to secure a structure of international cooperation through participating in the international criminal court... which is basically a statement of equality before the law among nations. We can participate in the Kyoto climate change treaty and address our urgent environmental problems, which this country is a prime part in creating in this world. America can help to affirm international order, not through the force of arms but through the force of morality. The morality which says that we must lead the way in achieving a biological weapons convention and a chemical weapons convention and a land mines treaty and a small-arms treaty, and all of those things which say, 'We will work cooperatively with the world.'
EDWARDS: But how much morality was in Iraq two months ago. I mean, aren't the Iraqi people significantly better off now?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well that remains to be seen... I think most people would agree that Saddam Hussein was not an individual whom the world could count on to work cooperatively. However, the United States worked cooperatively with Saddam Hussein in the late '80s. The United States was responsible for providing Saddam Hussein with biological, chemical and nuclear weapons potential. So it was more than passing strange to hear an administration condemn the viciousness of Saddam Hussein when the fact of the matter is that Washington cooperated in helping to build him up. So what I'm saying is that if we want to achieve a higher morality in our international affairs, then we must take care not to provide weapons to individuals who are likely to inflict harm against... their own people or people in the region. We as a nation have helped to perpetuate conditions around the world which have ended up making it much more difficult for people to survive. Our spread of armaments, our spread of biological [and] chemical weapons around the world have created serious problems. You know today there are at least a dozen nations which are trying to secure or have secured nuclear technologies for weapons purposes. There's about 20 nations... with biologic weapons, 26 with chemical weapons and 20 trying to secure missile technologies to deliver those weapons. We're in a world which is very unstable and the best that we can do, I believe, as a nation is to work to abolish those weapons. That's what we should be doing. The non-proliferation treaty calls for the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. Why isn't the United States taking up that standard and moving in the direction of getting rid of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth instead of what this administration is doing, building more nuclear weapons? As president I would take this country in the direction of more security by helping to create a more secure world through working with leaders in other countries to get rid of all these weapons and to bring back into the world community those nations which today are separate from the world community through a consistent and conscientious approach towards peacemaking.
EDWARDS: You've suggested a Department of Peace.
Rep. KUCINICH: Yes, it's time. The idea of a Department of Peace arises from the belief that we can in our society in the United States make non-violence an organizing principle. That was the dream of Dr. [Martin Luther] King. How do you do that practically? Well, in America, we can address systematically those areas of domestic violence -- of spousal abuse, child abuse. We can through education, working with community groups, look at problems of police-community relations, of racial violence, of violence against gays, of violence against any ethnic minorities. We can as a society begin to teach our children a mutuality and peace-giving and peace-sharing and identifying that other person as one's self and coming to a condition where we make the daily work of this nation peace-building within our nation. And when we do that, we can also simultaneously work with other nations so that we can practice non-violent intervention and mediation and create structures which someday can make war itself archaic. Bob, we have to believe in our capacity to evolve as a species and yet today what does war lead us to suggest -- that we haven't learned. And yet we have so much potential as a nation. And the only way we can tap it is to believe in our capacity to create peace and to work with other nations to create a world order which is sustaining and which will create peace. And when we do that, the dividend is that we can have health care for all in this country because we'll be able to afford it. And we can have education for all in this country and our retirement security will be assured. And we can create jobs which will be based on technologies for peace.
EDWARDS: But you would finance the health care with the payroll tax on employers and wouldn't that discourage employers from expanding their payrolls -- in other words, fewer jobs?
Rep. KUCINICH: Actually the system today discourages employers from expanding their payroll because of how much they're paying for health care. Health care cuts deeply into all businesses' bottom lines. The health care cost means that employers keep cutting back and cutting back and that has an adverse effect on one's workforce. If you have a workforce which isn't healthy, that has a material and destructive undermining of the workplace itself. So we want a healthy America. We want an America which focuses on preventative health as well and a national health care plan, single-payer universal which gets the profit out of health care can function mightily on prevention. We have not even begun to tap the potential of this country for an evolution in health care. There are so many authors out there who write books that people will snap up in a minute to talk about how one can gain control over one's own health, how one can have a more healthy life, and there's so much that can be learned from emerging thinking about health care. We're not even close to that, though, and by having it become a cause of our nation that we take care and help people maintain their basic health, America can take major strides towards addressing what has been a pressing social and economic problem that affects employers because it affects their employees.
EDWARDS: Until recently, you opposed abortion. Why the change of heart?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually the evolution that I've had on the issue of abortion has come about as a result of a number of factors. One has been the fact that over the last few years there's been a move in the Congress to try to criminalize abortion. I don't believe in criminalization. I think abortion should be made less necessary and you do that through birth control and sex education. But when this Congress makes a move towards criminalization, what it's really saying is that a woman doesn't equality in the society and I support a woman's right to choose. I think that it is fundamental in a democracy that a woman have equality and any effort to try to criminalize abortion would strike at the heart of that equality. So I support Roe v. Wade... Was I always there? No. But with the help of women in my life and women who I've had the opportunity to talk to over the years, I've seen how this really has become such a divisive and destructive issue and I think that we can work to achieve a society which supports a woman's right to choose and we can do that within the context of working to make abortions less necessary. We also have to, through sex education and birth control..., to try to create a culture which is life-affirming through prenatal care and postnatal care and child care and a living wage, universal health care and all these things which can help life unfold to the fullest. But I think that we are at a moment where there is a serious effort afoot to wipe out Roe v. Wade and I'm not going to be any part of that. I support a woman's right to choose.
EDWARDS: This is curious, though... you've been around a while. Did you have some sort of epiphany or did you decide to run for president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually long before I became a candidate for president... this was an issue that I had been thinking about in the last Congress. I was the only member of Congress who cast a 'present' vote on an issue that dealt with late-term abortions when the Congress came back after a Supreme Court decision that said that a bill that the Nebraska legislature had passed, which is similar to a bill that Congress had passed, was unconstitutional because it didn't provide for a woman's health and didn't really describe the procedure. When I saw Congress over the Supreme Court's constitutional issues that had been raised nevertheless pass the same bill, when that moment came, I thought this really isn't about a concern for life that's being expressed here. What I saw it as was a concern about crass politics. I am concerned about life and I think that we need to do everything we can to make abortions less necessary. But we have to remember in this constitutionally based government we have that the right of equality is also at stake here for women and women will never truly be equal unless they can be free to make their own choices. And so I would say that my evolution on this issue has come about as a result of being in the House, looking at the way these votes have developed, looking at the politics of it and not wanting to play politics with this because this is the kind of deeply personal issue that affects so many lives. At the same time the underlying question is what can we do to minimize the number of abortions. The way to do it, I think, and what I've always supported is to make sure that sex education and birth control can make abortions less necessary. And for myself, I could not have got to the position I'm at without the help of a lot of women who have appealed to me and said, 'Look, there are so many issues that are at stake here, would you please look at them.' I've kept an open mind and finally arrived at a place as a member of Congress before I became a presidential candidate where I was able to say what I think what's best for the country is to try to take a position where you work to try to make abortions less necessary but do it within a constitutional framework. And that's where I am and as president, I think, because of my experience with this issue, I'll be in a position to heal this nation, where I can take the nation away from the bitterness and the divisiveness which has occurred over the issue of abortion and understanding the concerns of people on both sides but being very firmly supportive of the constitutional rights which women have, not only under Roe v. Wade, but of an inherent constitutional right a woman has to equality.
EDWARDS: You mentioned job losses from NAFTA. Did it not also create wealth for others?
Rep. KUCINICH: NAFTA certainly created wealth for multinational corporations. But part of the destructive elements of NAFTA is that NAFTA was created perhaps with the intention of international cooperation in trade. But what it really brought about was a race to the bottom in wages. Companies move out of America in search of low wages, in search of climates which do not support unions, in search of areas where they don't have to pay people basic benefits. What does that mean then? What it means is that trade's being used to lower, not raise up, the human condition. In the maquiladora areas in Mexico workers' wages did not go up, they went down after NAFTA. NAFTA has been used to whipsaw workers' representatives at the negotiating table, forcing them into givebacks of wages and benefits under the threat of moving. NAFTA needs to be cancelled and we need to return to a bilateral system of trade which is conditioned on workers' rights, human rights and environmental quality principles. When we do that, we will help lift up not only the condition of American workers, but we will help lift up the condition of workers around the world because we'll set standards for trade.
There's another question here of sovereignty because the WTO... has said that we cannot even pass laws which say, 'Buy America.' We can't support our own economy because it would be seen as WTO illegal. The WTO today has created circumstances which makes it possible for multinational corporations to attack municipal ownership in this country, claiming that, for example, the ownership of a water system by a city is inconsistent with the WTO because... it's unfair competition for the private sector multinational water companies. I mean, I think that we need trade. It's essential that we have this kind of interchange which is fundamental to the world community. But the global corporations have become more powerful than governments and these trade agreements have basically set them above governments' ability to care for their own people.
There's another underlying issue here, Bob, and that is that the U.S. trade deficit itself. We have a $500 billion trade deficit. Soon we won't be able to borrow to cover that deficit. We'll be selling assets and we'll get to a point where perhaps in our children's generation, we'll be looking and facing squarely the kind of structural adjustment questions which the IMF [International Monetary Fund] has imposed on other nations. We'll lose control of our own destiny. So I'm looking at these economic issues in an holistic way which says, 'What's best for America and how can America do things that would be better for the world?' Cancel NAFTA and the WTO -- that's what I will do in one of my first acts in office.
EDWARDS: Speaking of deficits, how does being mayor of Cleveland in 1978, when it defaulted on loans, qualify you to be president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually that single fact, as the American people learn about it, will more than anything cause people to want me to be the next president. I was elected mayor of Cleveland on a promise to stop the sale of the city's municipal electric system. Our municipal electric system provided power to about a third of the city at a savings on the electric bill of about 25 percent. The previous mayor and council had sold the system. I organized a citizens campaign to block the sale. When I was elected I cancelled the sale. On Dec. 15, 1978, the largest bank in Ohio came to me and said, 'We will not renew the city's credit on $15 million in loans,' which I hadn't taken out -- taken out by the previous mayor -- 'We will not renew the city's creditunless you sell the city's electric system to a private company' -- a utility monopoly in which the bank had financial interest. My political career was on the line there. But more than that, the economic welfare of the people I represented was on the line, people for whom it matters whether they're paying... $80 or $100 a month for an electric bill. So I said no. I knew it would cost me the next election, but I understood that I was elected to stand up for the economic rights of the people who put me in there and I made a promise to do that. I think America would like to have a president who had the willingness to stand up to the monopolies in our society who wasn't bossed or bought, who had the freedom to be able to say, 'You're charging people too much for food, for health care, for energy, for any product.' And so my experience in Cleveland ends up being for me not only a defining moment but a moment to demonstrate that it is possible for a public official to stand up for the right thing. And the very fact that I'm sitting in front of you today comes as a result of a process where the people of Cleveland returned me to office years later because they understood the importance of the decision I made. Regularly in the city of Cleveland itself I score over 80 percent of the vote because people appreciate what I did. In my congressional district, which includes city and suburb, the last two elections I had 74 percent of the vote. So again the question is what kind of leader will the American people want to be the next president and I think that the kind of leadership that I've already provided will cause many people to say, 'You know, that's what we want, we want someone who's not afraid to stand up, who's not afraid to do the right thing.'
EDWARDS: Would you be the first vegetarian president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Gee, I don't know. I will tell you this, that the pace of this campaign is such, traveling sometimes 11,000 miles in a week, I couldn't do it if I didn't watch my diet and my diet is an essential part of my health and who I am and the energy that I have, my clarity... I don't really tell anyone else how they should eat. I want to make sure those farmers in Iowa are getting a fair price on all their crops and on their hogs and everything else they sell. For myself, I just find that... having careful attention to what I eat has worked for me.
EDWARDS: I remember the incumbent's father weighing in on broccoli...
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, you know, broccoli will be welcomed in my White House and so will vegetarians.
EDWARDS: Thank you very much.
Rep. KUCINICH: Thank you.
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Kucinich on NPR's 'Morning Edition'
Morning Edition: May 14, 2003
Listen via Real Audio
BOB EDWARDS, host: Why are you running for president?
Rep. KUCINICH: I'm running for president to bring a new day to America, an administration which will focus on the social, the economic, the human needs of the people and use the resources of our country to make sure that all Americans have decent health care, to get rid of health care for profit, to make sure that when people are sick they can see a doctor, to make sure that no one in America is afraid to go to a doctor or to a hospital because they can't afford it. I want universal health care. I want to be president because I believe that it's important to have a full-employment economy, that we can get America back to work rebuilding our cities. We can get America back to work if we change our trade agreements and cancel NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and the WTO (World Trade Organization), which have really been responsible for America losing hundreds of thousands and even millions of jobs. I think that as the next president I can work to create a new manufacturing policy so we can get our steel, automotive and aerospace industries back to where they were as a mainstay of the American economy. As the next president, I believe that I can focus the resources of this country in education so that every young person from pre-kindergarten all the way through to a person who wants to complete college will have fully paid education. We have the resources in this country for health, for jobs, for education. We have the resources in this country to assure retirement security for all Americans. As president, I'd make sure that all plans for Social Security privatization were set aside, that the retirement age was taken back to 65, because people work all their lives. Often they're tired by the time they get into their 60s and some people want to retire. They should be able to retire at a full rate at age 65. So those are some of the areas where as president I would focus the economic resources of this country.
Furthermore, I think that this is a time that we need to talk about setting aside the Patriot Act. We've really sacrificed basic liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. And the ultimate terrorism in a democracy is the sacrifice of civil liberties.
EDWARDS: Don't those other candidates want to take care of the social, economic and human needs of Americans?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, there are many good candidates running. Where my candidacy is different is that I'm the only candidate in this race who's talking about guaranteed, single-payer universal health care that takes the private sector out. I think every person who's listening to this understands that health care for profit has been a disaster in this country. That so many people have been deprived of the health care they need because they simply can't afford it. And health care for profit means that only those who have the resources and the wealth can get the care they need. That's not the America that is the America of our dreams. The America of our dreams is the America which is caring for everyone in this country. And so, I'm the only candidate who's saying guaranteed, single-payer universal health care and we have the resources to do that. It would be backed by a 7.7 percent tax that would be paid by employers who, by the way, are already paying 8.5 percent in terms of the average health care cost. I'm the only candidate in this race who's saying no to any kind of privatization of Social Security and who's saying take the retirement age back to 65. Now, how do I know that? >From Cleveland, Ohio, we have so many people who have worked in factories all their lives and whose tradition I'm trying to save by addressing our problems with trade, but I see people, I meet them and look at them and they're tired. They work 30, 40 years at a job and they're ready to retire and what's happening is this system keeps moving the retirement age back. And so, I'm the one who's saying, 'Look, let's put the retirement age at 65 and make sure everyone can be guaranteed a full and a fair retirement at that age.'
EDWARDS: Is your realistic goal to win the presidential nomination or to raise these issues?
Rep. KUCINICH: By raising these issues I'm going to win. By raising these issues, I'll identify myself as the one candidate who is in touch with the practical aspirations of people and who sees that this country has the resources to address those aspirations. But there are some things we're going to have to do. We're going to have to give up the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. We're going to have to give up America on the warpath, an America which is dedicated to spending a half a trillion dollars a year on the military by the year 2013. As the ranking Democrat on a subcommittee which has jurisdiction over national defense, an oversight subcommittee, I know the kind of waste that goes on in the military. I know, for example, that the Department of Defense cannot reconcile $1 trillion in accounts. I know that they can't keep track of the cost of various contracts that go to the private sector. And I know that the American people have a right to decent health care and education and [a] right to jobs and to retirement security and that's being sacrificed in the name of tax cuts for the wealthy, in the name of perpetual war and in the name of a military buildup.
EDWARDS: But you've heard now the horror stories of the regime of Saddam Hussein. Has that not moderated your opposition to the war?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well... I'm proud to have led the Democrats in the House of Representatives; 126 of us voted against the Iraq resolution in October. It's not simply opposition to the war in Iraq which caused me to run for president. It's opposition to a policy which sets America apart from the rest of the world because it's the policy which says that America can be the policeman of the world, that America can invade any country it pleases, that America can impose its doctrines and power anywhere it wants in the world. I think we're in a new era where the advancing tide is towards human unity, where people all around the world want to come together. The United States is in a position where it can lead the way towards that and it can do it in practical ways by affirming the power of the United Nations so that the international process makes decisions on international security. And that way we make our own country more safe. The United States can help to secure a structure of international cooperation through participating in the international criminal court... which is basically a statement of equality before the law among nations. We can participate in the Kyoto climate change treaty and address our urgent environmental problems, which this country is a prime part in creating in this world. America can help to affirm international order, not through the force of arms but through the force of morality. The morality which says that we must lead the way in achieving a biological weapons convention and a chemical weapons convention and a land mines treaty and a small-arms treaty, and all of those things which say, 'We will work cooperatively with the world.'
EDWARDS: But how much morality was in Iraq two months ago. I mean, aren't the Iraqi people significantly better off now?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well that remains to be seen... I think most people would agree that Saddam Hussein was not an individual whom the world could count on to work cooperatively. However, the United States worked cooperatively with Saddam Hussein in the late '80s. The United States was responsible for providing Saddam Hussein with biological, chemical and nuclear weapons potential. So it was more than passing strange to hear an administration condemn the viciousness of Saddam Hussein when the fact of the matter is that Washington cooperated in helping to build him up. So what I'm saying is that if we want to achieve a higher morality in our international affairs, then we must take care not to provide weapons to individuals who are likely to inflict harm against... their own people or people in the region. We as a nation have helped to perpetuate conditions around the world which have ended up making it much more difficult for people to survive. Our spread of armaments, our spread of biological [and] chemical weapons around the world have created serious problems. You know today there are at least a dozen nations which are trying to secure or have secured nuclear technologies for weapons purposes. There's about 20 nations... with biologic weapons, 26 with chemical weapons and 20 trying to secure missile technologies to deliver those weapons. We're in a world which is very unstable and the best that we can do, I believe, as a nation is to work to abolish those weapons. That's what we should be doing. The non-proliferation treaty calls for the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. Why isn't the United States taking up that standard and moving in the direction of getting rid of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth instead of what this administration is doing, building more nuclear weapons? As president I would take this country in the direction of more security by helping to create a more secure world through working with leaders in other countries to get rid of all these weapons and to bring back into the world community those nations which today are separate from the world community through a consistent and conscientious approach towards peacemaking.
EDWARDS: You've suggested a Department of Peace.
Rep. KUCINICH: Yes, it's time. The idea of a Department of Peace arises from the belief that we can in our society in the United States make non-violence an organizing principle. That was the dream of Dr. [Martin Luther] King. How do you do that practically? Well, in America, we can address systematically those areas of domestic violence -- of spousal abuse, child abuse. We can through education, working with community groups, look at problems of police-community relations, of racial violence, of violence against gays, of violence against any ethnic minorities. We can as a society begin to teach our children a mutuality and peace-giving and peace-sharing and identifying that other person as one's self and coming to a condition where we make the daily work of this nation peace-building within our nation. And when we do that, we can also simultaneously work with other nations so that we can practice non-violent intervention and mediation and create structures which someday can make war itself archaic. Bob, we have to believe in our capacity to evolve as a species and yet today what does war lead us to suggest -- that we haven't learned. And yet we have so much potential as a nation. And the only way we can tap it is to believe in our capacity to create peace and to work with other nations to create a world order which is sustaining and which will create peace. And when we do that, the dividend is that we can have health care for all in this country because we'll be able to afford it. And we can have education for all in this country and our retirement security will be assured. And we can create jobs which will be based on technologies for peace.
EDWARDS: But you would finance the health care with the payroll tax on employers and wouldn't that discourage employers from expanding their payrolls -- in other words, fewer jobs?
Rep. KUCINICH: Actually the system today discourages employers from expanding their payroll because of how much they're paying for health care. Health care cuts deeply into all businesses' bottom lines. The health care cost means that employers keep cutting back and cutting back and that has an adverse effect on one's workforce. If you have a workforce which isn't healthy, that has a material and destructive undermining of the workplace itself. So we want a healthy America. We want an America which focuses on preventative health as well and a national health care plan, single-payer universal which gets the profit out of health care can function mightily on prevention. We have not even begun to tap the potential of this country for an evolution in health care. There are so many authors out there who write books that people will snap up in a minute to talk about how one can gain control over one's own health, how one can have a more healthy life, and there's so much that can be learned from emerging thinking about health care. We're not even close to that, though, and by having it become a cause of our nation that we take care and help people maintain their basic health, America can take major strides towards addressing what has been a pressing social and economic problem that affects employers because it affects their employees.
EDWARDS: Until recently, you opposed abortion. Why the change of heart?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually the evolution that I've had on the issue of abortion has come about as a result of a number of factors. One has been the fact that over the last few years there's been a move in the Congress to try to criminalize abortion. I don't believe in criminalization. I think abortion should be made less necessary and you do that through birth control and sex education. But when this Congress makes a move towards criminalization, what it's really saying is that a woman doesn't equality in the society and I support a woman's right to choose. I think that it is fundamental in a democracy that a woman have equality and any effort to try to criminalize abortion would strike at the heart of that equality. So I support Roe v. Wade... Was I always there? No. But with the help of women in my life and women who I've had the opportunity to talk to over the years, I've seen how this really has become such a divisive and destructive issue and I think that we can work to achieve a society which supports a woman's right to choose and we can do that within the context of working to make abortions less necessary. We also have to, through sex education and birth control..., to try to create a culture which is life-affirming through prenatal care and postnatal care and child care and a living wage, universal health care and all these things which can help life unfold to the fullest. But I think that we are at a moment where there is a serious effort afoot to wipe out Roe v. Wade and I'm not going to be any part of that. I support a woman's right to choose.
EDWARDS: This is curious, though... you've been around a while. Did you have some sort of epiphany or did you decide to run for president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually long before I became a candidate for president... this was an issue that I had been thinking about in the last Congress. I was the only member of Congress who cast a 'present' vote on an issue that dealt with late-term abortions when the Congress came back after a Supreme Court decision that said that a bill that the Nebraska legislature had passed, which is similar to a bill that Congress had passed, was unconstitutional because it didn't provide for a woman's health and didn't really describe the procedure. When I saw Congress over the Supreme Court's constitutional issues that had been raised nevertheless pass the same bill, when that moment came, I thought this really isn't about a concern for life that's being expressed here. What I saw it as was a concern about crass politics. I am concerned about life and I think that we need to do everything we can to make abortions less necessary. But we have to remember in this constitutionally based government we have that the right of equality is also at stake here for women and women will never truly be equal unless they can be free to make their own choices. And so I would say that my evolution on this issue has come about as a result of being in the House, looking at the way these votes have developed, looking at the politics of it and not wanting to play politics with this because this is the kind of deeply personal issue that affects so many lives. At the same time the underlying question is what can we do to minimize the number of abortions. The way to do it, I think, and what I've always supported is to make sure that sex education and birth control can make abortions less necessary. And for myself, I could not have got to the position I'm at without the help of a lot of women who have appealed to me and said, 'Look, there are so many issues that are at stake here, would you please look at them.' I've kept an open mind and finally arrived at a place as a member of Congress before I became a presidential candidate where I was able to say what I think what's best for the country is to try to take a position where you work to try to make abortions less necessary but do it within a constitutional framework. And that's where I am and as president, I think, because of my experience with this issue, I'll be in a position to heal this nation, where I can take the nation away from the bitterness and the divisiveness which has occurred over the issue of abortion and understanding the concerns of people on both sides but being very firmly supportive of the constitutional rights which women have, not only under Roe v. Wade, but of an inherent constitutional right a woman has to equality.
EDWARDS: You mentioned job losses from NAFTA. Did it not also create wealth for others?
Rep. KUCINICH: NAFTA certainly created wealth for multinational corporations. But part of the destructive elements of NAFTA is that NAFTA was created perhaps with the intention of international cooperation in trade. But what it really brought about was a race to the bottom in wages. Companies move out of America in search of low wages, in search of climates which do not support unions, in search of areas where they don't have to pay people basic benefits. What does that mean then? What it means is that trade's being used to lower, not raise up, the human condition. In the maquiladora areas in Mexico workers' wages did not go up, they went down after NAFTA. NAFTA has been used to whipsaw workers' representatives at the negotiating table, forcing them into givebacks of wages and benefits under the threat of moving. NAFTA needs to be cancelled and we need to return to a bilateral system of trade which is conditioned on workers' rights, human rights and environmental quality principles. When we do that, we will help lift up not only the condition of American workers, but we will help lift up the condition of workers around the world because we'll set standards for trade.
There's another question here of sovereignty because the WTO... has said that we cannot even pass laws which say, 'Buy America.' We can't support our own economy because it would be seen as WTO illegal. The WTO today has created circumstances which makes it possible for multinational corporations to attack municipal ownership in this country, claiming that, for example, the ownership of a water system by a city is inconsistent with the WTO because... it's unfair competition for the private sector multinational water companies. I mean, I think that we need trade. It's essential that we have this kind of interchange which is fundamental to the world community. But the global corporations have become more powerful than governments and these trade agreements have basically set them above governments' ability to care for their own people.
There's another underlying issue here, Bob, and that is that the U.S. trade deficit itself. We have a $500 billion trade deficit. Soon we won't be able to borrow to cover that deficit. We'll be selling assets and we'll get to a point where perhaps in our children's generation, we'll be looking and facing squarely the kind of structural adjustment questions which the IMF [International Monetary Fund] has imposed on other nations. We'll lose control of our own destiny. So I'm looking at these economic issues in an holistic way which says, 'What's best for America and how can America do things that would be better for the world?' Cancel NAFTA and the WTO -- that's what I will do in one of my first acts in office.
EDWARDS: Speaking of deficits, how does being mayor of Cleveland in 1978, when it defaulted on loans, qualify you to be president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, actually that single fact, as the American people learn about it, will more than anything cause people to want me to be the next president. I was elected mayor of Cleveland on a promise to stop the sale of the city's municipal electric system. Our municipal electric system provided power to about a third of the city at a savings on the electric bill of about 25 percent. The previous mayor and council had sold the system. I organized a citizens campaign to block the sale. When I was elected I cancelled the sale. On Dec. 15, 1978, the largest bank in Ohio came to me and said, 'We will not renew the city's credit on $15 million in loans,' which I hadn't taken out -- taken out by the previous mayor -- 'We will not renew the city's creditunless you sell the city's electric system to a private company' -- a utility monopoly in which the bank had financial interest. My political career was on the line there. But more than that, the economic welfare of the people I represented was on the line, people for whom it matters whether they're paying... $80 or $100 a month for an electric bill. So I said no. I knew it would cost me the next election, but I understood that I was elected to stand up for the economic rights of the people who put me in there and I made a promise to do that. I think America would like to have a president who had the willingness to stand up to the monopolies in our society who wasn't bossed or bought, who had the freedom to be able to say, 'You're charging people too much for food, for health care, for energy, for any product.' And so my experience in Cleveland ends up being for me not only a defining moment but a moment to demonstrate that it is possible for a public official to stand up for the right thing. And the very fact that I'm sitting in front of you today comes as a result of a process where the people of Cleveland returned me to office years later because they understood the importance of the decision I made. Regularly in the city of Cleveland itself I score over 80 percent of the vote because people appreciate what I did. In my congressional district, which includes city and suburb, the last two elections I had 74 percent of the vote. So again the question is what kind of leader will the American people want to be the next president and I think that the kind of leadership that I've already provided will cause many people to say, 'You know, that's what we want, we want someone who's not afraid to stand up, who's not afraid to do the right thing.'
EDWARDS: Would you be the first vegetarian president?
Rep. KUCINICH: Gee, I don't know. I will tell you this, that the pace of this campaign is such, traveling sometimes 11,000 miles in a week, I couldn't do it if I didn't watch my diet and my diet is an essential part of my health and who I am and the energy that I have, my clarity... I don't really tell anyone else how they should eat. I want to make sure those farmers in Iowa are getting a fair price on all their crops and on their hogs and everything else they sell. For myself, I just find that... having careful attention to what I eat has worked for me.
EDWARDS: I remember the incumbent's father weighing in on broccoli...
Rep. KUCINICH: Well, you know, broccoli will be welcomed in my White House and so will vegetarians.
EDWARDS: Thank you very much.
Rep. KUCINICH: Thank you.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2003
I'm gonna check out Harry Shearer's Le Show. He is the guy who played heavy metalist Derek Smalls in This is Spinal Tap and also does the voices of Burns, Smithers and Flanders on the Simpsons.
"From deep inside your radio" the tag line goes.
This should be good.
On the Found Objects section of the website they even have audio clips, including Geraldo Rivera calls O.J. Simpson a "motherfucker" and Dan Rather blowing up off camera.
My favorite clip is the 30 second UPN predicts mind control via new logo. It is two corporate Ad execs pitching the symbolism of the new UPN logo, and how it will "will be embedded in the minds of the 18 to 49" demographic.
"From deep inside your radio" the tag line goes.
This should be good.
On the Found Objects section of the website they even have audio clips, including Geraldo Rivera calls O.J. Simpson a "motherfucker" and Dan Rather blowing up off camera.
My favorite clip is the 30 second UPN predicts mind control via new logo. It is two corporate Ad execs pitching the symbolism of the new UPN logo, and how it will "will be embedded in the minds of the 18 to 49" demographic.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
no moni. we went to chillis. (sp?) we had fun though. after that we went and looked at plants. the plants were a blast.
mom used to drag me to plant places all the time. after that i dropped her off, and she gave me a rhoda dendrum from her pre-school to put on me desk. i bought the rhoda on new pot from "farm and fleet," and it seems happy; it's sitting there smiling at me right now.
it's a bit overwhelmed by its new pot.
mom used to drag me to plant places all the time. after that i dropped her off, and she gave me a rhoda dendrum from her pre-school to put on me desk. i bought the rhoda on new pot from "farm and fleet," and it seems happy; it's sitting there smiling at me right now.
it's a bit overwhelmed by its new pot.
If your in Chicago tonight, go to the Hothouse on 31 E. Balbo Dr. We're having a free show there (donations for the Hothouse accepted). The city really fucked over this place which is a non-profit cultural center that has acts from all over the world perform. Find out more about the place at http://www.hothouse.net
Thank you,
Brian
Thank you,
Brian
If you'll notice, the media doesn't serve humans, it serves other media, other machines. Though it wears humans as clothes.
That is the definition of the Android Meme.
I'm listening to a show about World Trade Center Hero Trading Cards, and how the Washington Post bashed the publishers of these cards on the front page of their paper for three days. The families of WTC victims willingly gave the photos and life story of the family member who died, but the journalists at the Post didn't even bother to ask how the families directly affected by the event felt before they began to editorialize.
That is because these particular journalists don't care about humans, they care about their media. And media is now just talking and fighting with other media, pretending it is human while ignoring actual humanity.
We gave up our subscription to the SJ-R and I couldn't be happier.
That is the definition of the Android Meme.
I'm listening to a show about World Trade Center Hero Trading Cards, and how the Washington Post bashed the publishers of these cards on the front page of their paper for three days. The families of WTC victims willingly gave the photos and life story of the family member who died, but the journalists at the Post didn't even bother to ask how the families directly affected by the event felt before they began to editorialize.
That is because these particular journalists don't care about humans, they care about their media. And media is now just talking and fighting with other media, pretending it is human while ignoring actual humanity.
We gave up our subscription to the SJ-R and I couldn't be happier.
Monday, May 12, 2003
Mike, how do you feel about taking the train to Chicago and getting around using the subway, taxicabs, and our feetmobiles?
If Brit doesn't have any cats and she lets us stay with her, we may get to spend the night in Wrigleyville. At any rate, we can at least have lunch with her and have a drink at the Cubby Bear. She said her place is right off of the Red Line (one of the subway trains).
Maybe one night we could stay in Sandwich and use Matt's hottub.
I am excited by the prospect of not having the hassle of a car in chicago. Let me know what you think.
Also, what day and time are the shows?
Matt, what is your input?
If Brit doesn't have any cats and she lets us stay with her, we may get to spend the night in Wrigleyville. At any rate, we can at least have lunch with her and have a drink at the Cubby Bear. She said her place is right off of the Red Line (one of the subway trains).
Maybe one night we could stay in Sandwich and use Matt's hottub.
I am excited by the prospect of not having the hassle of a car in chicago. Let me know what you think.
Also, what day and time are the shows?
Matt, what is your input?
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Yes yes, very nice, but the Giant Squid is more impressive.
The Giant Squid (Architeuthis) is one of the largest squids (and invertebrate, animal without a backbone). It swims the oceans at great depths. No one has ever seen a living Giant Squid. Only dead examples have been found.
These soft-bodied cephalopods are fast-moving carnivores that catch prey with their tentacles, then poison it with a bite from beak-like jaws. They move by squirting water from the mantle through the siphon, a type of jet propulsion. The Giant Squid's only enemy is the sperm whale, who hunts it deep in the ocean.
Anatomy: The largest-known Architeuthis was 57 feet (17.5 m) long. They have eight arms, two longer feeding tentacles, a beak, a large head, and two eyes, each the size of a basketball. They breathe using gills.
Diet: Giant squid are fast-moving carnivores (meat-eaters) that catch prey (probably large marine creatures) with their two feeding tentacles, then hold the prey with the eight arms and bite it into small pieces using a parrot-like beak. The esophagus runs through the brain, so the food must be in small pieces before swallowing.
The Giant Squid (Architeuthis) is one of the largest squids (and invertebrate, animal without a backbone). It swims the oceans at great depths. No one has ever seen a living Giant Squid. Only dead examples have been found.
These soft-bodied cephalopods are fast-moving carnivores that catch prey with their tentacles, then poison it with a bite from beak-like jaws. They move by squirting water from the mantle through the siphon, a type of jet propulsion. The Giant Squid's only enemy is the sperm whale, who hunts it deep in the ocean.
Anatomy: The largest-known Architeuthis was 57 feet (17.5 m) long. They have eight arms, two longer feeding tentacles, a beak, a large head, and two eyes, each the size of a basketball. They breathe using gills.
Diet: Giant squid are fast-moving carnivores (meat-eaters) that catch prey (probably large marine creatures) with their two feeding tentacles, then hold the prey with the eight arms and bite it into small pieces using a parrot-like beak. The esophagus runs through the brain, so the food must be in small pieces before swallowing.
  The "big red" jellyfish uses its arms to feed (Image: MBARI)
Scientists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing found a new species of jellyfish off the Farallon Islands near San Francisco. Here are some facts about Big Red, as they call it. Distinctive features: A yard-wide fleshy red bell, four to seven thick arms with wartlike clusters of stinging cells. Lives: 2,000 to 4,800 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, as well as in the Sea of Cortez, in Monterey Bay, and off Hawaii and Japan. Population: So far, 23 have been found by researchers. |
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Monday, May 05, 2003
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Animal scent markings are notorious for smelling terrible. But castoreum is different. It has a musky smell that some people describe as van...
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Bust some bubble wrap , Create your own Picasso , or Watch this cartoon dude falling
